(New York, March 7, 2007) – Nigerian authorities should immediately investigate and prosecute those responsible for a violent assault and death threats against a leading anticorruption campaigner in the oil-rich Niger Delta, Human Rights Watch said today.
The assault and threats against Anyakwee Nsirimovu, a human rights activist who is director of the Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (IHRHL) in Port Harcourt, were most likely a reprisal for his outspoken criticism of corrupt state and local government officials in Rivers State, Human Rights Watch said.
On March 4, Nsirimovu was attacked in Port Harcourt while driving home from a meeting. Around 8 p.m., a gang of at least six young men armed with knives, clubs and other weapons attempted to stop his car. When Nsirimovu refused to stop, they attacked his car, smashing the rear windshield and causing other damage to the vehicle. Because the youths allowed numerous other vehicles to pass by without interference, it appeared that Nsirimovu was the objective of their assault. Nsirimovu escaped unharmed.
"The assault and death threats against one of Nigeria's leading human rights campaigners should be investigated immediately," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "These attacks threaten free speech on key issues like governance and corruption during the critical pre-election period."
The assault followed a steady stream of at least 10 threatening phone calls to Nsirimovu over the past two weeks. The anonymous callers stated that they "knew what [he] is doing," told him to stop publicizing allegations of corruption against local officials and claimed that the work he has been engaged in is "not safe" for him. He has also received text messages attacking him for publicly denouncing the conduct of local government officials in the state. Minutes after Nsirimovu was attacked on Sunday evening, his wife received a phone call from an unidentified caller who simply stayed on the other end of the line in silence until she hung up.
In 1996, Human Rights Watch honored Anyakwee Nsirimovu at its annual human rights defenders' ceremony for his work in Nigeria.
Nsirimovu had filed reports with the Rivers State Commissioner of Police even before he was assaulted, complaining of the threatening phone calls and text messages he was receiving. He has since filed an additional report documenting the attack he suffered on Sunday night. But so far, police have failed to seriously investigate the matter and have not made any arrests.
"Federal and state authorities need to ensure that the police do not ignore this brazen attack," said Takirambudde.
Human Rights Watch believes these threats were in response to Nsirimovu's outspoken criticism of corruption in the Rivers State government and in the state's Local Government Councils in recent weeks. On February 12, for example, his organization issued a scathing public criticism of Rivers State legislators who had suddenly abandoned demands that Rivers State Governor Peter Odili account for the use of funds in the state's US$1.3 billion 2006 budget before submitting the 2007 budget for a vote.
On January 31, Human Rights Watch released a report on the human rights impact of local government corruption in Rivers State entitled "Chop Fine." Nsirimovu, through IHRHL, has been active in promoting public awareness of the problems documented in the report. All of these actions drew considerable ire from state and local officials. They have responded to Human Rights Watch's report by claiming that it was false propaganda and that it was allegedly paid for by people the state's Commissioner for Local Government Affairs described as "faceless enemies of the Rivers State government."
Nsirimovu said that the assault and threats against him could lead other civil society groups to become wary of speaking out on the myriad human rights and governance issues facing Rivers State.
"It might get worse as the elections approach because I think the objective is to shut people up," Nsirimovu told Human Rights Watch.
In elections on April 14 and 21, Nigeria will vote for a new president, governors for the 36 states, and legislators at both the national and state levels. Elections in Rivers State in 2003 and 2004 were riddled with widespread fraud, violence and intimidation.
